At the end of the first day of the Post Forum Dialogue on October 28, between the Pacific Island Forum countries and industrial countries from outside the region, both China and the USA had commited funding for the Pacific, while Taiwan made a funding agreement with Nauru.

The Secretary General of the Forum Secretariat, Greg Urwin said that he could not quantify the total amount of money and the number of projects that dialogue partners would give Pacific Island Forum Countries, because the signing of agreements was still on going.

The Secretary General had just signed a $US2 million agreement with the People...’s Republic of China to finance projects under the Pacific Plan, and he was on his way to sign a $1.5 million dollars agreement with the USA for the establishment of a Pacific Anti Money Laundering Program. Greg said that dialogue was still going on with other dialogue partners such as Malaysia and Thailand, which were interested in establishing a capacity building program for Pacific Island countries.

China

The People...’s Republic of China Deputy Foreign Minister who signed the agreement emphasized the fact that even though China was still a developing country but it was important for China to assist in the social and economic development in PIF countries.

He said that a proposal by China for a China Pacific Economic Forum to be held next year had been welcomed by the Forum. China has expressed their willingness to assist in the development of technical skills and financial management, and a seminar for Pacific Chief Auditors has been planned.

Taiwan

China's rival Taiwan, an hour earlier signed an AUD$4.5 million agreement with Nauru for the repatriation of Kiribasi and Tuvaluan workers who have been stranded in Nauru without pay during the past three years. Nauru has plunged into economic difficulties during the past few years so that some of the foreign workers who were working in its phosphate mine were left stranded without pay.

The Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Taiwan, Yeong-Cho Chen, said that $2.7 million had been earmarked for the repatriation of Kiribasi workers and $1.8 million for Tuvaluan workers. The first installment will be paid out during January-February 2006 and the second and final installment will be made on June-July 2006. The President of Nauru, Hon. Ludwig Scotty and the Prime Minister of Kiribati, Hon. Anote Tong, and the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Hon. Maatia Toafa, expressed their deep gratitude to Taiwan for its assistance. Hon Maatia Toafa said that a Friend in Need was definitely a friend indeed and the people who will be very happy are the 300 workers who are stranded in Nauru. Hon. Ludwig Scotty said that the 300 foreign workers who were stranded in Nauru had not been paid during the past three years. He estimated that each would be paid between $20,000 and $30,000 Australian dollars.

The People...’s Republic of China was so definitely in the good book of the Pacific Forum that the signing of the grant from Taiwan to Tuvalu and Kiribasi was not allowed to be made at the Crown Plaza Hotel where the Forum conference was held, and the signing was made in another hotel a mile away.

Anti money-laundering

The establishment of a Pacific Anti Money Laundering Program, funded by the USA with US$1.5 million was announced by the USA Assistant Secretary of State, Christopher Hill. He said that the facility will enhance Pacific Islands' capability to deal with money laundering, a world wide problem, which had also become a Pacific problem.

Edward P. Rindler, the Director of the US Department of State Money Laundering-Terrorist Financing Group, said that under this program they will be working very closely with Australia, the IMF and Forum countries to create ...“a seamless web within the Pacific. We can...’t combat terrorism with out an effective anti-money laundering regime....” He said that under this program there will be four or five different kinds of mentors who will be residing in the region. ...“There will be a legal mentor to assist with the drafting of legislation. There will be financial investigator mentor, and bank regulator....” Initially, the program will run for four years and during that time the mentors will train local staff.

Investment fund

Among the many sources of finance that were made available to Pacific Forum Countries during this year...’s Post Forum Dialogue Talk was a $US 20 million investment fund for the Pacific Islands, targeted at small and medium enterprises which was launched on October 27.

The Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, said that the fund will make a significant contribution to the development of the Pacific Islands. ...“These small island developing states are particularly disadvantaged in accessing international capital market at reasonable cost to mobilize resources to modernize their economies,...” he said.